Kevin Smith has really done an about face in the last few years. In 2012, just after his mooted hockey film project “Hit Somebody” went south, the director decided to change gears and write a “Clerks 3” movie. He then even essentially announced his retirement on Twitter, claiming the third ‘Clerks’ film would be final feature (there was some plan for “Hit Somebody” to be a TV mini-series, but that hasn’t panned out yet).

Kevin Smith has really done an about face in the last few years. In 2012, just after his mooted hockey film project “Hit Somebody” went south, the director decided to change gears and write a “Clerks 3” movie. He then even essentially announced his retirement on Twitter, claiming the third ‘Clerks’ film would be final feature (there was some plan for “Hit Somebody” to be a TV mini-series, but that hasn’t panned out yet).

Fast forward two years later and things have radically changed. “Clerks 3” hasn’t been made yet (more on where that project is at here), but in the interim time Smith wrote and shot a new horror called “Tusk.” And the project, conceived and written in about 20-something days, appears to have rejuvenated the filmmaker and given him back his mojo. “It opened doors, introduced me to new people, and got my juices flowing again,” Smith told THR earlier this year (and he’s since then made plans for three new films, including a “Tusk” spin-off). Suffice it to say, Smith is at the opposite end of the spectrum on his career direction from two years ago.

And now the trailer for “Tusk” has finally arrived. What it is it? Well, see for yourself, but it’s essentially about a pair of podcasting friends, one of whom gets lost in the Canadian backwoods and then stumbles upon a mad man with a bizarre fetish.

“I began reconstructing the whole thing as an old British Hammer horror film," Smith wrote in a guest column for the Hollywood Reporter last year (the piece was taken down, presumably because it’s too spoilery, but it can be read here). "In which a mad scientist intends to sew some hapless lodger into counterfeit blubber, creating a chimera in an effort to answer the ultimate riddle, 'Is man, indeed, a walrus at heart?!.' And yes, in case you're wondering Smith said he conceived it while he was stoned.

The film stars Michael Parks, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Johnny Depp (in the role Smith originally wanted Quentin Tarantino to take). A24 Films is releasing the film on September 19th, which means there is a pretty good chance you'll see it announced during TIFF's midnight madness section a few days earlier. So it’s strange, right? Yep, see for yourself and watch the trailer below.